Kennel-License Rules Need To Be Revised By Mary Sagal Correspondent

As they write the county’s new land-use regulations, the Growth Management Act Steering Committee should revamp one of Spokane County’s dog laws.

County commissioners should see the wisdom in the change and approve it.

What needs revision is the inane property zoning regulations that determine how many dogs a Spokane County resident can own.

Thought that was taken care of through pet licensing? It’s not.

If you live in Spokane County and want to own more than four dogs, you are thrust into a bureaucratic nightmare called THE KENNEL LICENSE.

In Spokane County, a private kennel license is required for someone to own 5-10 dogs; a commercial kennel license is required for someone to own 11 or more dogs.

Requiring individual dogs to be licensed is a good idea. Those little metal tags reunite lost pets with their owners and help fund Spokane County Animal Control.

Animal Control houses lost pets and discarded pets, euthanizes unadopted pets and investigates cases of animal neglect and cruelty.

At $8.50 annually for a spayed or neutered dog, pet licenses are a cheap way for pet owners to help support an important government service.

But a public hearing and at least $340 in fees face you if you want to open your home to more than four dogs - if you want a kennel license.

Current zoning regulations forbid you from owning more than four dogs if you have a large ranch.

Yet they let you have up to 10 dogs if you own a small piece of land.

If your property is zoned Exclusive Agricultural (minimum acreage 40), forget it. A kennel license is prohibited.

If your land is zoned General Agricultural (minimum acreage 10) you can get either a private or commercial kennel license.

If your land is zoned Rural Settlement (minimum acreage 10), you can get a private kennel license.

That’s right. Current county zoning regulations say the less land you have, the more dogs you can own. The more land you have, the fewer dogs you can own.

What insidious bureaucracy.

To prevent puppy mills and other inhumane conditions and to maintain good neighbor relations, Spokane County residents with more than four canines should be required to purchase a special pet license.

Funds collected through this license should be used by Animal Control to conduct annual inspections of the animal husbandry practices of these dog owners.

Conditions of the inspection should be determined by a citizens’ task force composed of a socially diverse group of county dog owners and veterinarians - rural and urban residents, owners of pet and working dogs, holders of liberal and conservative attitudes toward animals.

Responsible dog owners should have no problem with the inspection. They will already be humanely caring for their hunting dogs, rescued shelter dogs, sled dogs, show dogs, tracking dogs, etc.

In fact, submitting to the inspection should make them feel good. It means that sleazy puppy mill owners and others who stockpile dogs inhumanely will be more frequently caught.

While the county’s land-use regulations are being rewritten, county commissioners should seize the moment and change the county’s ridiculous process of obtaining a dog kennel license.

If they have any doubt, I invite Commissioners Phil Harris, John Roskelley and Kate McCaslin to spend a day euthanizing intelligent, highly adoptable dogs that could have gone to humane homes if getting a kennel license wasn’t so mired in unintelligent rules.

, DataTimes MEMO: About Dogs appears the first Sunday of each month. Mary Sagal is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America. She lives in rural Spokane County with her husband and their mixed-breed and Siberian husky dogs.